Needle protector for knitting machines



March 31, 1936. A, E. PAGE NEEDLE PROTECTOR FOR KNITTING MACHINES FiledAug. 2, 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet l 4W Q J? AN R m 0 T T T N A M z wvwm ILY w.m\ i 2 T i w T M? M 4 March 31, 1936. A. E. PAGE 2,036,093

NEEDLE PROTECTOR FOR KNITTING MACHINES Filed Aug. 2, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet2 A, lianl lNVENTOR ALBERT E. PAGE BY HIS ATTORNEYS Sid till

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Patented Ear. 31,, 1936 UNITED A STATES NEEDLE PROTECTOR FOR KNITTINGMACHINES Albert E. Page, Brooklyn,

N. Y., assignor to Scott & Williams, Incorporated, New York, N. Y., acorporation of Massachusetts Application August 2, 1935, Serial No.34,458 14 Claims. (Cl. 66-457) This invention relates to needleprotectors for knitting machines and more particularly for knittingmachines arranged for knitting plated rib and plain fabrics and havingselected cylinder needles moved to plate the threads in the reverserelation during plain knitting and it is an object of this invention toprovide in a knitting machine of the type described a needle protectorfor detecting load-ups and broken needles and particularly broken ordefective needles which are moved backwards as the reverse platingneedles are during plain knitting. It is also an object of thisinvention to provide a needle protector arranged to be operated to stopthe ma chine in case of load-ups, broken or defective needles or in casethe spring band on the sinkers or web holders breaks, or if for anyother reason the sinkers or web holders are positioned outwardly beyondtheir normal working position.

in the drawings in which the invention is shown embodied in a Scott &Williams rib knitting machine arranged for reverse plating in a wellknown manner,

Fig. 1 is a partial vertical section through a rib knitting machine ofthe type described showing, a needle protector applied thereto andpositioned as for detecting broken or defective needles during plainknitting;

Fig. 2 is a partial top plan view of the structure shown in Fig. l; v

3 is a partial vertical section taken as on line ll--3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken as on line 4-4 oi Fig. l and showing inplan view the operating means for the needle protector;

Fig. 5 is a broken view, showing in front elevation the supporting meansfor the needle protector;

Fig. 6 is a plan view, similar to Fig. 3, but showing the needleprotector in the position it occupies during rib knitting;

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view showing the relativepositions of the needle protector and a broken or defective needle whichhas been moved backwards as are the reverse plating needles during plainknitting;

Fig. 8 is a view similar to Fig. '7 and showing the relative positionsof the needle protector and needles during rib kniting;

Fig. 9 is a view similar to Fig. '7 and showing the relative positionsof the needle protector and. a broken or defective needle which is in anelevated position and moved backwards into contact with the dial; and

Fig. 10 is a broken view showing in elevation 'may be employed, themechanism shown comthe cams and push rods for operating the needleprotector.

In the drawings the invention is shown in connection with a circular ribknitting machine of a well known Scott & Williams construction, such asis shown in the patent to Scott, No. 1,641,101 of August 30, 1927, onlysuch parts thereof being shown as are necessary to illustrate theapplication of the invention thereto. As shown in. the drawing, there isthe usual bed plate B, a 10 needle cylinder 26!] which is slotted toreceive the needles N, a dial D having the two-part needles shown in theScott patent referred to, and a dial cam D, the dial D being supportedand driven by the shaft (1. There is also provided the usual sinker orweb holder ring 295 which supports the usual sinkers w biased to theirinner positions by the springband w and operated by cams, not shown, inthe usual cam cap 300.

The machine shown in the drawings is arranged to reversely plate fabricknit of two yarns by deflecting the cylinder needles during plainknitting and for this purpose the upper portion of the needle cylinder260 is cut away forming a shoulder as at 260' which serves as anabutment for bending the needles backward in order to change the platingrelation of the threads taken by the deflected needle. In order todeflect the needles for reverse plating any suitable means prisingpressers 20 mounted in the slots of selected cylinder needles andbearing against the needles at spaced points thereon, jacks 22 mountedin slots in a jack dial 23 secured to the under surface of the sinkerring 295 and normally biased to their inner positions so as to bearlightly against the pressers Zll by springbands 24. The jacks 22 areoperated by suitable cams, not shown, to force the pressers 2|] againstthe needles and bend backward the upper portion or hook end of theneedle, the needles bending about the shoulder 260' as a; fulcrum. Theneedles N are provided with the usual butts for operation by the usualcylinder needle operating cams, not shown.

To support a needle protector constructed in accordance with thisinvention a bolt or pin 30 is mounted in the base plate B and hasjournalled thereon a sleeve 32, the upper portion of which is enlargedas at 32 to form a support for a cam plate 34 pivotally mounted on acylindrical extension 32 to the sleeve. The-extension 32 of the sleeveis divided vertically and the slot thus provided is enlarged at onepoint to receive a sleeve 36, the sleeve being secured in position bythe clamping action of the portions of the extension 32 which are drawntogether by the bolt 38. The sleeve is cut away at one end so as toprovide a tapering downwardly bent end 36 andv serves to slidablysupport a needle detector 40 formed with a tapered end 40 At its otherend the detector 40 is bent at right angles to provide a downwardlyextending finger 40 which engages in an eye 42 secured in an opening inthe cylindrical extension 32 by a set screw 43, the eye 42 limiting theoutward movement of the needle detector 40 under the influence of aspring 44 which surrounds the needle detector 40 and is confined betweenthe end of the sleeve 36 and a collar 46 on the detector 40.

Adjustably secured to the cam plate 34 by the set screws 48 is a cam 50having a cam surface 50 arranged to engage with the downwardly bentfinger 40 on the needle detector 40 as the cam plate 34 is rotated aboutthe cylindrical extension 32 of the sleeve. A spring 52 having one endconnected to an extension of the cam plate 34 and its other end securedby pin 53 to the enlarged portion 32 of the sleeve normally biases thecam plate 34 and cam 50 to a position in which the cam surface 50 isdisengaged from the finger 40 of the needle detector 40, as shown inFigure 6.

To operate the cam plate 34 and cam 50 against the action of the spring52 there is provided a link 54 connected at one end to the extension ofthe cam plate 34 and at its other end projecting through the upper endof a lever 39 pivotally mounted as at 6|. A collar 55 secured on thelink 54 ensures operation of the link 54 upon movement of the lever 39in one direction. The lever 39 has the lower end thereof positioned tocontact with cams on the main or other pattern drum I20. Operation ofthe lever 39 as the cams on the drum I20 come beneath the lever causesthe upper end of the lever 39 to be moved to engage with the collar 55and shift the link 54 so as to rotate the cam plate 34 and cam 50 to theposition shown in Figure 2 against the action of the spring 52 and movethe detector 40 forward and upon release of the lever 39 by the cams onthe drum I20 the collar 55 will be released by the lever 39 permittingthe spring 52 to return the cam 50, cam plate 34 and link 54 to theposition shown in Figure 6 and the detector 40 to be moved outwardly.

Secured to the lower end of the sleeve 32 by a set screw 51 is a crankarm having an adjustable downwardly disposed extehsion 62 held inposition by set screw 63 and mounted on the set screw 63 and held inposition by nut 64 is an upwardly extending hook 65 to which isconnected one end of a chain 66, the other end of which'is connected toone end of a lever 68 which is pivotally mounted, as at I0, upon a studI2 secured in a bracket "mounted on the base plate 13. The other end ofthe lever 68 is engaged by the upper end of a push rod 460, the lowerend of which is engaged by cams carried by the pattern drum I20. Thepush rod 460 is guided by the usual comb, not shown, and when raised bythe cams on the drum I20 operates the lever 68 to rotate the sleeve 32and needle detector 40 against the action of a spring I6, one end ofwhich is secured to the extension 62 of the crank arm 60 while the otherend is attached to the base plate B. The arrangement of push rod 460 andits connection to the sleeve 32 is such that when the push rod is raisedby a cam the sleeve 32 is moved to a position such that the needledetector 40 is in the solid line position shown in Figures 2 and 6 andwhen the push rod 460 is lowered as the cams pass from beneath the pushrod the sleeve 32 is returned by the spring I6 to a position such thatthe needle detector occupies the dotted line position I, as shown inFigure 2.

Pivotally mounted on the under face of the base plate Bis the lever 80having one end arranged to operate a link 82 connected to a suitablemachine stopping mechanism, as in the patent to Elliott, No. 1,754,151of April 8, 1930, while the other end of the lever 80 is positioned tobe engaged by the extension 62 so that upon operation of the needledetector 40 by a broken or defective needle or loops which have loadedup on a needle to the dotted line position II, shown in Figure 2, thelever 80 is operated to release the stopping mechanism to stop the machine.

The cams on the drum I20 are so arranged that during the knitting of ribfabric and plain fabric by round and round knitting the push rod 460 israised, operating the lever 68 to rotate the sleeve 32 so as to bringthe needle protector from the inoperative position shown at I in Figure2 to the operative position shown in solid lines in Figures 2 and 6.During reciprocating knitting of the heel and toe the push rod 460 isnot raised and the needle protector is left in its inoperative position.During the knitting of rib fabric the cams operating the lever 39 do notengage the lever permitting the link 54, cam plate 32 and cam 50 to beheld by the spring 52 in the position shown in Figure 6 and permittingthe spring 44 to hold the needle detector 40 at the outermost positionpermitted by the adjustable eye 42, whereby the needle detector 40 ispositioned as in Fig. 8 so as to be engaged by loops which load up onthe needles.

During the knitting of plain fabric the push rod 460 is raised as duringthe knitting of the rib fabric and the lever 39 is operated by a. cam onthe drum I20 so as to cause the lever 39 to operate the link 54, the camplate 34 and cam 50 against the action of the spring 52 and engage thecam face 50 against the extension 40 to force the needle detector 40inwardly against the action of the spring 44 until the detector 40assumes a position as in Figures 7 or 9. The needle detector 40 is thusprovided with an inoperative position and two operative positions, anouter operative position assumed during rib knitting as shown in Fig. 8in which the dial D is in a lowered position and the needle detector 40is positioned to avoid the fabric but to be engaged by loops which loadup on any needle and an inner operative position assumed during plainknitting as shown in Figs. 7 and 9 in which the dial D is in a raisedposition and the needle detector 40 is positioned to be engaged by abroken needle even when, as shown in Fig. 7, the needle moves backwardinto the recess provided for positioning the needles for reverseplating. In this inner position the needle detector 40 is posltioned soas to be engaged by a needle which, because of a broken butt or otherdefect, is left raised to a position in which the point of the needlehook passes over the needle detector as in Fig. 9. The movement of theneedle detector 40 from one to the other of its operative positions iseffected without movement of the sleeve 36 so that the downwardlyextending end 36 of the sleeve 36 is positioned to be engaged by thesinkers 10' which assume an outward position on breakage or excessivestretching of the spring band w in either operative position of theneedle detector 40.

What is claimed is:-

1. A needle protector for knitting machines arranged to knit rib andplain fabric having a plurality of operative positions and machineoperated means for shifting said protector from one operative positionto another upon a change in the fabric knit.

2. A needle protector for knitting machines having a plurality ofoperative positions and machine operated means for shifting saidprotector from one operative position to another.

3. A needle protector for knitting machines having a plurality ofoperative "positions automatically operating means for shifting saidprotector from one position to another and machine stopping mechanismoperative upon engagement of said protector in either operativeposition,

4. A needle protector for rib knitting machines having one operativeposition during rib knitting and a difierent operative position duringplain knitting and automatically operating means for shifting saidprotector from one position to the other.

5. A needle protector for knitting machines having an inoperativeposition and a plurality of operative positions and machine operatedmeans for shifting said protector to the different positions.

6. A needle protector for knitting machines having an inoperativeposition and a plurality of operative positions, means for shifting saidprotector between an operative position and the inoperative position andseparate operating means for shifting said protector between theoperative positions.

'7. A needle protector for knitting 'machines having an inoperativeposition and a plurality of operative positions, machine operated meansfor shifting said protector to the various positions and machinestopping means operative upon engagement of said protector in anoperative position.

8. A needle protector for knitting machines arranged to knit rib andplain fabric having an outer operative position and an inner operativeposition and pattern controlled means for shifting said protector fromone operative position to the other upon a change in the fabric knit.

11. A needle protector for circular rib knitting.

machines having a plurality of operative positions and means operativeupon a change from rib to plain knitting for shifting said protectorfrom one operative position to another.

12. A safety detector device for circular rib knitting machines, meansoperative upon a change from rib to plain knitting for shifting part ofsaid device from one operative position with relation to the needles toanother operative position therewith, and machine stopping mechanismoperative upon engagement of said device in either operative position,said device having another part adapted to cause said machine stoppingmechanism to be operated upon engagement of said part with a displacedsinker.

13. A needle protector for circular rib knitting machines having aninoperative position, one operative position during rib knitting and asec and operative position during plain knitting, means operating saidprotector between its inoperative position and its position for ribknitting, separate operating means operating said protector between itsoperative positions and machine stopping mechanism operative uponengagement of said protector in either operative position.

14. A safety detector device for knitting machines, having a partadapted to occupy a plurality of operative positions with relation tothe needles, machine operated means for shifting said part from one tothe other of said operative positions, said detector also having a partadapted to be engaged by a displaced'sinker, and ma. chine stoppingmechanism operative upon engagement of said last-mentioned part by asinker.

ALBERT E. PAGE.

